Design Tips for Holiday Jewelry

Handcrafted art beads add magic to jewelry that will last well beyond the holidays.  When designing seasonal jewelry pick focal beads that celebrate the winter season along with more traditional festive picks.  Think snowflakes and evergreens, deer and pine cones, doves and winter berries.  Mix in stones like rutilated quartz, blue lace agate, rock crystal, smokey quartz, and garnets with your holiday art beads.  I'd probably throw in some dark wood beads too along with chain in a gunmetal finish.

The design above is entitled Winter Solstice and can be found in my book, Jewelry Designs from Nature.  I used a pewter pendant from Lynn Davis with a deer and woodland motif and paired them up with icy rutilated quartz.  While it's inspired by a walk in a winter forest, the necklace could be worn all year long.

Here are some of my picks for holiday inspired beads.  With November breathing down our necks, it's time to get those beads ordered and start on those holiday projects!

let it snow - simple truths... TesoriTrovati $15.00	Old Lace White - 16mm Patina... missficklemedi... $13.00	Medium 8 Petal Verdigris Pat... missficklemedi... $12.00	Snowflake Charm - Teal humblebeads $12.00
Vanilla Birds- tiny ceramic ... kylieparry $18.00	Holiday Pendant, "Belie... Jangles $8.00	Red Kirk Wood Button Hand Ca... lynndavis $18.99	Ember Red Beads - set of 8 -... missficklemedi... $8.00
Verdigris - 10mm Patina Copp... missficklemedi... $10.00	Swirly Bird Leaf Pendant earthenwood $10.00	Petal Headpins Mulberry - se... humblebeads $16.00	Leaf and Hart Hand Cast Pewt... lynndavis $15.99
Jangles Ceramic Pendant Jangles $12.00	Snow Dove humblebeads $9.00	Falling Snow / Ceramic Snowf... gaea $16.50	Evergreen- Handmade ceramic ... kylieparry $14.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.